Transformative Novelty Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A novelty headgear apparatus made from a formed, three-dimensional paperboard box is presented. The inventive apparatus and method for making the same, includes the use of perforated guides applied to a formed, three-dimensional paperboard box in any headgear configuration selected by a producer. The user tears or cuts along the perforated guides to reveal the selected headgear. Multiple pieces and indicia may also be applied to enhance the headgear apparatus.

RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/602,800, filed Sep. 4, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a novelty apparatus and, more particularly, to a novelty apparatus which is a transformative headgear piece formed from a three-dimensional box.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Novelty items are well known. They are found in many settings, including but not limited to sports team or event support and often include logos, sponsorship information, or other indicia. In these settings, novelty items are found in a variety of formats. One popular format is headgear, often in the form of a hat, mask, visor, or other wearable configuration. The prior art is replete with examples of such items. For example, the following prior art patents all disclose novelty headgear: U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,165,272; 6,941,582; 5,428,842; 5,214,800; 4,429,420, and 4,246,659.

A wide variety of novelty headgear has been created and are presently available. However, there is a need for improvement in novelty headgear, and it is to this need that this invention is directed.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide novelty headgear which enables a user to form the novelty headgear from a formed, three-dimensional box.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide novelty headgear which can be used for promotional and fan support purposes.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an alternate use for consumer packaging.

It is yet another object of the invention to decrease waste and cost by providing an option for multiple uses of consumer packaging.

It is an advantage of the present invention to enable manufacturers of products to increase sales by providing a new avenue for promotional programs.

It is another advantage of the present invention to enable advertisers, such as, but not limited to, sports teams and corporate sponsors, to increase exposure and create brand loyalty through an alternate advertising medium.

It is yet another advantage of the present invention to enable fans and supporters to demonstrate their loyalty without having to spend money on additional items.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above objects and advantages are provided for a novelty headgear apparatus particularly adapted for use as a promotional item to be used by fans and supporters at sporting and other events or venues but may also be used for other purposes as well. The novelty headgear of the present invention is preferably comprised of a formed, three-dimensional box which includes perforations or scoring in designated patterns which may then be torn or cut along such perforations/scoring to form the novelty headgear. Alternatively, dotted or solid lines may serve as guides along which consumers can cut to form the headgear. (Together, perforations, scores or scoring, dotted lines and solid lines may also be referred to as “guides.”)

The guides may be preferably configured to simulate various types of head coverings including, but not limited to helmets (e.g., football, baseball batting helmets, hockey, race car, motorcycle), caps (e.g., baseball or general, such as may be seen used by car racing fans), masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, and astronaut helmets. Still other preferable configurations may simulate various types of sporting event mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, non-descript headgear such as a “wizard” hat, or virtually any other type of head gear, object, thing or design that may be desired for a particular promotion, giveaway, or event that may be formed from a three-dimensional box.

In addition, separate features, such as three-dimensional glasses, face guards, chin straps, or appliques, such as team logo stickers, corporate logos, flexible displays, etc., may preferably be included.

Highly-preferred embodiments include a main panel which extends along the box front as well as extends to the box side. It is highly preferable that the main panel is removable from the box when a user perforates the box along the guides. Preferably, once the main panel is removed from the box and the box is placed on a user's head, the area in which the main panel previously was now becomes a face-receiving opening for the user.

Highly-preferred embodiments also include the guides which enable a user to further transform the box by creating a face guard or other items as desired by the user. The face guard preferably has a face guard end and can reversibly fit into a receiving slot. The slot can be used for accepting ancillary headgear fittings. Preferably, the face guard also includes punch-outs.

The guides can preferably be either perforations, scoring, dotted lines or solid lines. It is preferred that when perforated or cut, the guides separate out a portion of the box to form a face-receiving opening, a face guard, three-dimensional glasses or a visor from a portion of the box.

In preferred embodiments, the headgear can also include at least one earhole punch-out and at least one indicia placement area. Preferably, the headgear is made of paperboard.

Other preferred embodiments include a visor which has an elongated headband piece with a strap separator to separate the headband piece into a first headband piece having a first headband-piece end, and a second headband-piece having a second headband piece end. Preferably, the first headband piece has adjustment slots adjacent the first headband piece end, the second headband piece also includes a tab adjacent the second headband piece end for reversibly and adjustably fitting into the first headband piece adjustment slots.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment including the above-noted characteristics and features of the device. The device will be readily understood from the descriptions and drawings. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a representative helmet configured box illustrating the device;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the helmet of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the helmet of FIG. 1 with the excess material not removed and illustrating the guides;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the box illustrating guides along the back of the box bottom;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the box of FIG. 1 illustrating a helmet after guides are followed and excess material removed;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the three-dimensional glasses attached to the helmet;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the three-dimensional glasses not attached to the helmet;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the box of FIG. 1 illustrating the helmet with excess material removed and without a face guard or three dimensional glasses attached;

FIG. 8 is a side view of the box of FIG. 1 illustrating the helmet with excess material removed and further illustrating slots, earhole punch-outs and an indicia placement area;

FIG. 9 is a side view of a box illustrating the guides in the configuration of a cap;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a box illustrating the guides in the configuration of a visor;

FIG. 11 is a top view of a box illustrating the guides in the configuration of a visor and showing a visor head opening;

FIG. 12 is a back view of a box illustrating the guides in the configuration of a visor and showing the adjustability of the visor; and

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an alternative, elongated box.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before explaining the preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited in its application to the details of arrangements of the components set forth in the following description. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the arts, the present invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. It is also to be understood that where ranges are provided for various aspects of the invention and for examples, they are approximate ranges and are not to be limiting except where noted otherwise.

FIGS. 1-13 illustrate a novelty headgear invention. FIG. 1 illustrates a representative box 20. Box 20 is a fully formed, three dimensional container for holding products such as beverages. Box 20 may also be a container for other items such as snack products, tools, etc. The contents of box 20 are not important or related in any way to the invention. It is only necessary that box 20 be of sufficient size to be useful in the configuration of a preferred headgear style. For example, many products, particularly beverages, are sold in a rectangular box having sides of approximately equal area. Other styles of boxes, such as an elongated container 20A, as depicted in FIG. 13, can be used to effect the present invention.

Moreover, the preferred embodiment employs a heavy paper or cardboard. (Also referred to throughout as “paperboard”). As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the present invention is suitable for other materials that hold their shape and can be perforated, cut or folded (for example, plastic) without exceeding the scope or spirit of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates box 20 in a football helmet 22 configuration as the selected configuration in this example. As can be seen, in FIG. 3, main panel 24 is shown extending along the box front 26 (including in this example, box handle A) and extending to box side 28. (Main panel 24 has been removed in FIGS. 1-2). Main panel 24 also extends to the opposite box side 30 as seen in FIG. 3 as well as extends to box bottom 32 and near to box back 34 as can be seen best in FIG. 4.

Main panel 24 is removable from box 20 when a user perforates the box along guides 36. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 3, once main panel 24 is removed from box 20 (as in FIG. 1) and box 20 is placed on a user's head, the area in which main panel 24 was now becomes a face-receiving opening for user. FIGS. 1-2 depict box 20 with main panel 24 removed to reveal helmet 22 configuration.

As will be noted by those skilled in the art, in the case of a box having box handles (as seen in FIG. 3 shown as A), the handle can be located on any and all the various box sides. Box handle A location is determined by the structural integrity of the box and not necessarily the headgear configuration.)

As seen best in FIG. 3, guide 36 enables a user to further transform box 20 by creating a face guard 38 or other items as desired by the user. FIG. 3, illustrates the face guard 38 configuration which further includes face guard punch-outs 40 which, when the punch-outs are removed, provide a more realistic-looking face guard. Face guard 38 has a face guard end 42 (there is a similar end on the opposite side of face guard 38, not shown). Face guard end 42 reversibly fits into slot 44 as seen best in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 illustrates face guard 38 attached to helmet 22 by slot 44.

Additionally, other embodied uses of a portion of box 20 can be made into other items instead of face guard 38. For a non-limiting example, and as seen in FIGS. 6-7, three-dimensional glasses 46 can be employed in the packaging. (In this example, instead of face guard 38 being located on the box 20 as seen in FIG. 1, three-dimensional glasses 46 would be in the place of face guard 38 and would include guides 36 along edges of three-dimensional glasses 36 to be perforated and separated from box 20).

In the embodiment including three-dimensional glasses 46, slot 44 would be placed on box 20 in an appropriate position for three-dimensional glasses 46 to be connected to box 20 as depicted in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 illustrates three-dimensional glasses 46 before being connected to helmet 22 (made of box 20). This effectively changes the overall look of helmet 22 from a football helmet into a space helmet or the like. If no face guard 38, three-dimensional glasses 46 or other supplementary accessory is used, helmet 22 may be configured as a batting helmet.

FIGS. 6-7, illustrate that ring caps 48 can be used to attach three-dimensional glasses 46 (or alternatively, face guard 38) to box 20. Ring caps 48 can be made to include reflectors, team or other sponsor indicia or logos. While slot 44 and ring cap 48 are illustrated, those skilled in the arts will understand that any attachment apparatus may be used to secure face guard 38, three dimensional glasses 46, or other preferred options to helmet 22.

It will be appreciated that guides 36 are employed to create the design for the configuration of the inventive headgear which can be of any type or style suitable to the type of box and headgear selected. In the preferred embodiment, as seen best in FIG. 3, guides are perforations which can be torn or cut along to create the headgear from the three dimensional box. In some instances, perforations may not be suitable. For example, the weight of the paperboard or products contained in it may cause inadvertent tearing during transport or there may be prohibitive manufacturing costs associated with perforations. In these instances, other types of guides may be used, including but not limited to, scoring of the paperboard or the printing of solid or dotted lines along which a user may cut.

FIGS. 2-3 and 5-8, illustrate that helmet 22 can also include earhole punch-out 50 and indicia placement area 52. Of course, these are optional and, as is the spirit and scope of the invention, can be placed only if needed. There can also be one or more earhole punch-outs 50 or indicia placement areas 52 if preferred. Earhole punch-out 50 can also serve as an attachment area for an apparatus such as ring cap 48. When earhole punch-out 50 is used for attachment purposes, earhole punch-out 50 may include tabs 56 and slot 44 would then be replaced with horizontal slot 58, which are spaced to accept tabs 56 as seen in FIG. 8.

Indicia placement area 52 can be pre-printed with appropriate indicia or, alternatively, stickers could be included in the packaging for placement. Alternatively, the space could be a blank for the user to draw in whatever they prefer.

As described, any type of headgear suitable for the size and shape of box 20 is contemplated in the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, main panel 24 may be placed place at a higher horizontal plane along box side 28, box side 30 and box front 26 to create a cap 60, such as depicted in FIG. 9.

FIG. 10 depicts an example of another alternative embodiment which includes visor 62. FIG. 11 illustrates the box top 64 of the visor 62 (also seen in FIG. 10) in which it is shown that the user's head can protrude through visor 62. FIG. 12 illustrates the back view of visor 62 showing a visor strap separator 66 to enable the visor to be adjustable. Visor strap separator 66 also includes a visor tab 68 which can be fit reversibly into one of the visor slots 70 in order to adjust the visor size.

The method of producing novelty headgear from a three-dimensional box comprises the steps of applying guides 36 to a three-dimensional box 20, guides 36 are in the configuration of a type of headgear desired by the producer. Once guides 36 are applied, the user can tear or separate excess material from box 20 following guides 36 to reveal the intended headgear. The producer may also include additional features through the use of additional guides to also include reversibly attachable items such as a face guard 38 or three-dimensional glasses 46, for example. Indicia may also be applied, the indicia being in the form of stickers and the like. Guides 36 which are applied to box 20 can be of various varieties, including but not limited to, perforations, scorings, printed solid and dotted lines.

As seen in FIG. 13, elongated container 20A has guides 21 which illustrate that more than one headgear can be made from a single box (shown as B and C). Only the type of desired headgear configuration will impact the size box that is employed.

It is also to be understood, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the preferred and alternative embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. More specifically, as those skilled in the art will understand the configuration options are limited only by the imagination of the headgear designer. Any type or shape of headgear can be made using the principles of the invention on a formed, three-dimensional box. 

1. A novelty headgear comprising a rectangular three-dimensional box, the three-dimensional box including guides strategically located on the three-dimensional box, the guides being in the configuration of a headgear style, the headgear style is selected from the group comprising football helmets, baseball batting helmets, race car, motorcycle, caps, masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, astronaut helmets, mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, and non-descript headgear, and the guides are selected from the group comprising perforations, scoring, dotted lines and solid lines, wherein the guides are perforations or cuts on the box that when perforated or cut separate out a main panel of the box to form a face-receiving opening, a face guard, three-dimensional glasses or a visor from a portion of the box.
 2. The novelty headgear of claim 1 wherein the face guard includes punch-outs.
 3. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one earhole punch-out.
 4. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one indicia placement area.
 5. The novelty headgear of claim 1 comprised of paperboard.
 6. The novelty headgear of claim 1 wherein the visor includes an elongated headband piece with a strap separator to separate the headband piece into a first headband piece having a first headband-piece end, and a second headband-piece having a second headband piece end, the first headband piece having adjustment slots adjacent the first headband piece end, the second headband piece including a tab adjacent the second headband piece end for reversibly and adjustably fitting into the first headband piece adjustment slots.
 7. The novelty headgear of claim 1 further comprising at least one slot for attaching ancillary headgear fittings to the box.
 8. A method for producing novelty headgear from a rectangular three-dimensional box comprising the steps of: (a) placing guides on the three-dimensional box in the contour of a selected headgear; and (b) separating excess material from the three-dimensional box by following the guides such that the shape of the selected headgear results, wherein the selected headgear is selected from the group comprising football helmets, baseball batting helmets, caps, masks, visors, military helmets, firefighter helmet, astronaut helmets, mascots, various types of animals, monsters, holiday figures or figurines, various types of food, well known public figures, corporate logos, and non-descript headgear, and the guides are on the box and are selected from the group comprising perforations, scoring, dotted lines and solid lines, the guides when perforated or cut separate out a main panel of the box to form a face-receiving opening, a face guard, three-dimensional glasses or a visor from a portion of the box.
 9. The method of claim 8 further including the step of separating punch-outs from a portion of the box.
 10. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of including at least one earhole punch-out.
 11. The method of claim 8 further comprising the step of including at least one indicia placement area. 